Julia Mackin-McLaughlin, Kylie Freeston, Christine Yin, David Kauffman
Biographical History:
Marshall Nirenberg was born in New York in 1927, but he lived in Florida.
His interest in bird watching led to his interest in science.
He graduated from University of Florida with a degree in Zoology and Chemistry
He got his Ph.D. in biological chemistry from U of Michigan
He worked at the National Institute of Health in 1957
worked as a post doctorate fellow at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases
In 1968 he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Har Gobind Khorana and Robert Holley
He died just last year on January 15, 2010
Contribution to Genetics:
His contribution to Genetics was that he deciphered the first codon in 1961. He created an artificial RNA molecule with polyuridylic acid and formed the amino acid phenylalanine. Through his and Heinrich Matthaei's experimenting, they discovered that the codon UUU is the code for phenylalanine. Nirenberg also established the rules of which DNA is translated into proteins.
(left: Heinrich Matthaei and to the right: Marshall Nirenberg)
Organism used in his experiment: E-Coli
His experiment:
The first step is to make a cell-free environment. This means, that cells being used must be lysed so contents, which can synthesize RNA, are able to be utilized.
In Nirenberg's experiment, he used E-coli. Using a mortar and pestle, he crushed them and created the cell-free environment.
Used 20 test tubes, each filled with a different amino acid. One tube, called the "hot tube" was tagged with radioactive ions so the reaction could be watched. (The "hot" tube changed each experiment run, allowing them to test all amino acids in the tubes)
The one tube that was tagged contained the amino acid phenylaline.
Placed the synthetic RNA, made entirely up of codon UUU, into the tagged phenylalanine tube.
The "cold" or not-tagged tubes had 7,000 counts, but the phenylaline tube had 38,000 counts per milligram of proteins.
The experiment's results showed that UUU, or Poly-U, makes up the amino acid phenylaline.
They continued using the basic procedure but with different RNA strands made up of codons other than UUU, and also using different amino acids.
Significance of research:
They deciphered all possible RNA codons for all 20 amino acids based on their logic of 64 possible triplet combinations (4^3)
They figured out what role DNA and RNA had in protein synthesis
They found some RNA codons serve as “punctuation marks” in the chain to signal the start/stop of amino acids
The Poly-U experiment, described above, gave them the key to unlocking the genetic code with the discovery of phenylalanine (UUU)
They helped open the doors to further understand genetic diseases
With what Marshall Nirenberg discovered about translation, we now know that the addition or deletion of a single base can lead to a massive mutation
"Deciphering the Genetic Code: M. Nirenberg." Office of History, National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/>.
"Marshall Warren Nirenberg :: DNA from the Beginning." DNA from the Beginning - An animated primer of the 75 experiments that made modern genetics.. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.dnaftb.org/22/bio.
WADE, NICHOLAS. "Marshall Nirenberg, Biologist Who Untangled Genetic Code, Dies at 82 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21nirenberg.html>.
Marshall Nirenberg
Julia Mackin-McLaughlin, Kylie Freeston, Christine Yin, David KauffmanBiographical History:
Contribution to Genetics:
His contribution to Genetics was that he deciphered the first codon in 1961. He created an artificial RNA molecule with polyuridylic acid and formed the amino acid phenylalanine. Through his and Heinrich Matthaei's experimenting, they discovered that the codon UUU is the code for phenylalanine. Nirenberg also established the rules of which DNA is translated into proteins.
Organism used in his experiment: E-Coli
His experiment:
They continued using the basic procedure but with different RNA strands made up of codons other than UUU, and also using different amino acids.
Significance of research:
Animations and Visuals:
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp12/1202002.html
http://www.dnaftb.org/22/animation.html
http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/
Bibliography
"Deciphering the Genetic Code: M. Nirenberg." Office of History, National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/>.
"Marshall W. Nirenberg - Biography." Nobelprize.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1968/nirenberg-bio.html>.
"Marshall Warren Nirenberg :: DNA from the Beginning." DNA from the Beginning - An animated primer of the 75 experiments that made modern genetics.. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.dnaftb.org/22/bio.
NIH–, now an employee of. "Nirenberg: History Section: Poly-U." Office of History, National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/hs4_polyu.htm>.
"Nobel Laureate Marshall Nirenberg Dies at 82." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/profiles_nirenberg_dies.html
Sydney. " Marshall Nirenberg: Nobel prize-winning biochemist | Times Online Obituary ." The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7015496.ece>.
WADE, NICHOLAS. "Marshall Nirenberg, Biologist Who Untangled Genetic Code, Dies at 82 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/us/21nirenberg.html>.